Joseph Wickes (1620 - 1692)

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Biography

Joseph Wickes was born in 1620 in England. He married Marie Hartwell and they had four children together. He also had one son and one daughter with Anne Hynson. He died in 1692 in Kent, Maryland, at the age of 72.

Children of Mary Hartwell and Joseph Wickes:

• Benjamin Wickes 1647–1715 m. Mary Sydes
• Mary Wickes 1652–1671
• Joseph Wickes II 1658–1702
• Rachel Wickes1662–

Children of Anne Hynson and Joseph Wickes:

• Martha Wickes 1676 m. Michael Miller, Jr.
• Samuel Wickes 1684 m. Frances Wilmer

Joseph Wickes (1620-1692) Chief Justice of Kent County

Joseph Wickes arrived in Maryland in 1650 from England and settled on Kent Island, then part of Kent County. Within a year of his arrival he was appointed judge of the county court, serving until 1656, and then becoming its presiding judge.

Captain Wickes came to Kent Island with Colonel Thomas Hynson. We find that his claim for lands began with a warrant and that in obtaining the warrant he stated he had brought into the Province of Maryland three people in 1650. Between 1658 and 1680, he and his partner, Thomas Hynson, were granted numerous land tracts on Eastern Neck Island until eventually they owned the entire island. Wickes built a house on the island that became known as Wickliffe. Colonel Wickes and Hynson grew mostly tobacco and other crops and exported their produce to the mainland and England. This grant of land to them jointly, indicated that they had thrown together their fortunes, and had received from the Land Office, then situated at St. Mary's City, a grant in which both shared equally.

Notes:Major Joseph Wickes was a gentleman of birth, breeding, refinement, and culture. He made his first appearance to us "on ye 12th January 1651," o. s., in an elevated position, upon the Bench of Kent County Court. In this honorable position he remained by successive appointments, and on the 1st of July 1656, he appeared as the presiding Judge of the Court. A few years after, when the affairs of the Province had been brought to the verge of ruin by the Puritans, he was chosen a Burgess to represent Kent County, in the Assembly which was begun and held at St. Leonard's, on the 27th April 1658. It would be interesting to know how he bore himself in that famous Assembly. Of one thing we are sure, that his conduct was consistent with his usual deportment, for again, on the 25th day of July 1678, he appears as the presiding Justice of Kent County Court... Situated at the southern tip of Eastern Neck Island, possessing a wonderful view of the Chesapeake Bay and the Chester River, is "Wickliffe," one of the most interesting of the old places in Maryland. Swepson Early in his book "Chesapeake Bay Country," states that it was surveyed in 1658 for 800 acres for Joseph Wickes and Thomas Hynson and was granted to them jointly in 1659. Adjacent lands were acquired by these two men and in 1680 a partition was made between Wickes and Hynson, (John Hynson) son and heir of Thomas Hynson, the Wickes portion being 864 acres, comprising the southern half of the island: the Hynson portion was the northern half. After the death of Mr. Wickes in 1692 the estate "Wickliffe" was divided between his eldest son Joseph and his youngest son Samuel. Joseph Wickes received the eastern half of the dwelling plantation, while the western portion went to Samuel.{TB:89}

The year of the arrival of Major Joseph Wickes, on Kent Island, is ascertained by the following entry, dated July 13th 1658, in "Liber A. For Transcribing Old Records," Fol. 40: "Joseph Wickes doth enter a Caveat of Land for 15 Servants or Rights, due to him vizt: Joseph Wickes, John Meconnichin, William Davies in the year 1650,--John Morgan, Edward Tarant, in the year 1654,--Anne Gold & a Negro, in the year 55,--Mrs. Wickes and her two Children, in the year 56,--John Longthorne, Richard Huson and Elizabeth Ellis, in the year 57, & Francis &Thoms Brookes, in the year 56. These Rights are Entered to be taken up, on the Eastern Neck against the Upper part of Kent." The above is a very interesting entry. It discloses the fact, that Mistress Marie Hartwell was a widow with two children, when she married Maj. Wickes, and that Major Joseph Wickes was the first slave owner in Kent county, Maryland. We can have no doubt that he was an exceptionally kind master to his slaves; for his servant Edward Tarant, in his Will, left to Major Joseph Wickes one hogshead of tobacco, "for his tender care of me in my sickness." In connection with a deposition, made by Major Joseph Wickes, on the 11th of Oct. 1656, it is stated that he was then "aged 36 years or thereabouts." It appears that Major Joseph Wickes, with his family and servants, came to Kent county, Maryland, in the year 1650, and was then in the 30th year of his age. On the 19th day of July 1656, he married Mrs. Marie Hartwell,and, on the 18th day of August 1656, his son Joseph, by a previous marriage, died.{OK:58}

Maj. Joseph Weekes 15.217 A KB ?1099.11.10 #8675 (also Joseph Wickes) Payments to: Mr. Robert Smith, Mr. William Dent, Mr. Robert Carvill, Mr. Edward Sweatnam, Mr. George Plater, Mr. William Hemsly, Elias King, Col.Greenberry, William Nuthead, estate of Col. Blackstone. Distribution to: Anna (widow), wife of St. Leger Codd. Witnesses (September 11, 1697): Thomas Smith, Elias King.

Sources

http://www.bjpeters.com/bj/PS03/PS03_256.htm

• Tillman, Stephen F., The Record and Genealogy of the Tilghman-Tillman-Tilman-Tilmon Family. Michigan: Edward Brothers, Inc.1939: p. 89.

• Hanson, George A. Old Kent: The Eastern Shore of Maryland. Baltimore, MD:Regional Publishing Company, 1876, 1967: p. 58.

• A Biographical Dictionary of the Maryland Legislature 1635-1789 by Edward C. Papenfuse, et. al. Volume 426, Page 887.